


Lab Buddies: The Lunatics

by FighterAmy



Series: Lab Buddies [1]
Category: The Yogscast
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Clones, Gen, It's Not Paranoia If They're Really Out To Get You, Mind Manipulation, Murder Mystery, [REDACTED]
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-06
Updated: 2016-08-20
Packaged: 2018-06-06 17:46:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6763927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FighterAmy/pseuds/FighterAmy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a short story version of the comic of Lab Buddies by FighterAmy. The Lab Buddies world is an Alternate Universe of the established Yogscast cannon (2015-2016) however, it’s main focus is where it merges the stories of Yoglabs and FluxBuddies and some of Blackrock Chronicles. The world itself is a semi-futuristic setting in the city called Server, most of the Yogscast live in or around the city. Many Minecraft elements and mods seen in Yogscast videos are actual concepts or real devices in universe however magic mods are not as common. This story is told from the perspective of Rythian, whom is the narrator in the comics.</p><p>Story: Around the city of Server, people have been going missing and turning up dead. The mysterious vigilante of the night, Rythian, cannot find the culprit. However, he has a hunch who might be involved. So he contacts his friend Nano, and begrudgingly Lalna as well, and asks them to investigate… Perhaps that was not a good idea.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Starting off with a Bang.

**Author's Note:**

> Few things to get your head around for reading this.  
> 1\. "Server" is the name of the city. Its an analogy for the Yogs playing in a Minecraft Server, so the guys in charge of the server are the "Admins" of the city.  
> 2\. Rythian, the narrator, doesn't like Lalna. So he'll be fairly sassy when talking about him or the things he does. Don't take it to heart, I love Lalna, it's just Rythian can be fairly biased about certain characters.  
> 3\. Although Rythian wasn't present for every event in the story, he is the one telling this story. So for the parts he isn't physically present for; he is telling those parts from information he's learnt from the characters involved and he's also embellish parts for the sake of telling a good story.  
> 4\. "Rythian is a main character in the story, why does he say it's not his story?" it's more of a reference to Joakim Hellstrand(Rythian) saying that at the start of every new game he plays, however it isn't actually him, it's my interpretation of his character, so it's technically not his story..? It's a bit meta, don't worry about it. The in universe explanation is that Rythian sees himself as more of a observer and not a hero despite how involved he may actually be in the story he tells.
> 
> With that out of the way, here we go!

Hello.

My name is Rythian,

and this...

is not my story.

 

 

 

It’s beginning to look like a calm night; the winter chill is beginning to seep into the autumn winds which is keeping many folks from leaving their homes. Rush hour begins to slow and the noise of the traffic below has quietened down to a more pleasant background hum. It seems like tonight I might have the chance to take a break from my patrols. However, the night is just beginning, I should not get my hopes up.

There are many things that wish you harm at night. There are creatures that lurk in the shadows, and monsters roaming loose in the streets, and that is not even accounting for the humans who commit petty theft or worse. It is quiet anarchy that ceases to exist in the day. All evidence of it is often gone by the morning and when people wake and get back to work, they live relatively unaware of the quiet anarchy that was the night before.

I like to think that is because of people like me. I protect this city at night. I am not payed or thanked for my work. I am not a hero. I am considered a vigilante by some but the majority of people see me as someone to be feared, but regardless, I do it. Not for justice or honor but hope. My roommate believes truly in her heart that there is good in this world and with just that, everyone deserves a second chance. I do not agree… but… I hope that one day I will be proven wrong. Which is why I am protecting this city.

From where I am standing atop city hall, it is a rather pleasant view. It isn’t the tallest building in the city, that honor belongs to Solution Tower, but I can see many important places from here. To the east is the river and my apartment. North of that is the old abandoned dry docks, rumor has it that they’ve been bought up and are being split up between the major enterprises of this city. To the north of where I am sitting is the colossal **Solution Tower** , headquarters of **Strife Solutions** , and near to that is Server’s central park. To the south is the hideously brown **Sips Co. headquarters** , and the far more popular market streets. Finally, to the west, facing towards the park to the north is **Duncan's Laboratory** , an external facility belonging to YogLabs, and behind that built into the mountain range that runs the whole western side of the city is the **headquarters to Yoglabs** itself. I prefer to stay away from the west side of the city if I can help it… but that coincidentally is where the shadows are at their darkest and the monsters are most likely to appear.

However, even over there, tonight I don’t hear or see any signs or sounds of trouble, _yet_. I simply have to wait and watch.

 

One of the office windows below me opens, and the one sided heated conversation spills out into the night above. It’s the mayor’s office, I can tell that much from the dark rose red curtains fluttering occasionally in the night’s breeze. Sounds like the new mayor has a lot to learn about this city, he seems to be heatedly disagreeing with the placement of some of the new M.O.D security cameras. As if he had some control over it. A nice enough man, but I doubt he has quite realized what he has stepped into.

I should probably say now that, City Hall, or at least the council and governing parts of it only operate at night. From what I’ve been told, that is rather odd for anywhere other than Server. I suppose that is what happens when you have a vampire for a mayor. I’m not joking by the way. The new mayor, **Kirin Dave** , is in fact a nocturnal vampire. Luckily for his electorate, he doesn’t bite random civilians, he simply buys blood from outside sources. The majority of human blood is apparently rather unhealthy for vampires given our higher sugar and fat intake the past few hundred years. It was all a part of his marketing campaign to educate his electorate and to eventually get fair rights for all non-humans in the city. A nice thought, however I doubt that will happen any time soon. He wasn’t voted in for change, he was voted in because the previous mayor was no longer playing nice with the corporation heads who run Server.

I hear him slam the phone down and swear. As I suspected, he couldn’t convince whoever he was talking to, to move the security cameras. More than likely if his electorate gets mad at the invasion of privacy, he’ll be to blame. As to be expected. If something goes wrong in Server, it’s the administration that is blamed, not the ones who caused the problem in the first place. Perhaps I should hop down and check in on him. Even in his so called ‘position of power’ he is incredibly alone.

 

Suddenly a yellow and red light floods the right side of my vision. Followed with a burst of heat, followed quickly by a deafening bang that echoes down the streets. A building to the west has erupted into flame.

The building engulfed in smoke is facing the park. It’s Duncan’s Lab. Those lunatics; This was likely another experiment of theirs gone wrong. Guessing by the startled swears from below, it seems like the mayor has worked out it was them as well. I make haste across the rooftops towards the sight of the burning building. There is nothing I can do, anyone who was inside would have perished in the initial explosion, but anyone who is injured outside, I could help. Luckily because of the cold nights, that part of the city was relatively empty. It is a lot of noise complaints and of course destruction of property, but only two injured with minor burns, and those are the two lunatics who caused the explosion in the first place.

Then I spot the two of them there, standing across the street from the burning wreck, staring sheepishly at the flames as the authorities begin making their way on the scene. A tall man in an open white lab coat next to a short woman in a neatly buttoned up red lab coat. They unanimously turn to one another and after a few moments smile then burst out into hysterical laughter.

 

 _These_ , ladies and gentlemen, are your heroes for this story I tell you. _Lunatics._

The blond disheveled scientist in the white lab coat and purple turtleneck, is **Dr. Lalna ‘Duncan’ Jones**. Friend’s simply call him **Duncan** , he stands over 6 feet tall and frequently has a dumb grin plastered across his face. He is a freelancing **employee of Yoglabs**. Meaning if his employer sees fit, he essentially has the backing and protection equivalent of the government. His skills range between bio-and-electrical engineering, but for the most part he monitors the **M.O.D Security Network**. Likely this is to keep him out of trouble. I'll admit he can be quite clever at times... but eccentric at best and childish at worse are still dangerous traits in a man who can create a bomb with just some bleach and a packet of batteries.

Beside him in the red lab coat and long black hair is **Kim 'Nano' Sounds**. She gained the nickname from her short stature, standing at 5 feet tall. She's resourceful, cultured and with a sunny disposition towards strangers means she's the charismatic one. She can strike up a conversation with even the most reclusive person... I consider her to be a friend. However due to an accident in the lab, _under Lalna's supervision might I add_ , has left Kim with a growing magical infection known as **the Flux**. It manifests itself as a purple almost circuit board like veins that have grown across the majority of the right side of her body. Since contracting the flux, Kim has developed a form of schizophrenia, which includes occasional hallucinations of voices she called 'mother'... and Kim is still considered by most to be the sane one.

Together with her friend and close colleague, Lalna, they continue to make headlines... for all the wrong reasons.

 

Meanwhile, for me, the light from the fire and the increased presence of the authorities will drive away any of the monsters of the night. So all I have to do is keep an eye on these two troublemakers. Given the frequency of these events… _well…_ it seems tonight will be no different than any other night this year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comic pages involved in this chapter:  
> Page 1:  
> http://fighteramy.tumblr.com/post/124162466962/page-1-always-wanted-to-make-a-comic-or-at
> 
> Page 2:  
> http://fighteramy.tumblr.com/post/124322195077/page-2-your-heroes-duncan-and-kim-why-is


	2. Count to 10 and breathe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't expect updates on this to be frequent, I just write when I'm bored/sick/or stuck on the comic.

It is late next evening when the two lunatics are finally dragged to Kirin’s office to explain themselves. Unfortunately for Lalna, since he is Kim’s supervisor, he is the one to do the explaining while his apprentice waits quietly outside.

 

Lalna fidgets with his VIP letter, the metal nuts, and pieces of spare wiring in his coat pockets. The wait is making him anxious. He was dragged away from fixing his laboratory by his boss for this meeting and no one is here. He was just asked to wait, seated in the mayor’s office. He is used to being yelled at, it’s the calm before the storm he does not like.

He adjusts his goggles for the 5th time and glances at the windows behind the large dark oak desk. The curtains are a dark rose red. It makes Lalna uncomfortable. Everything in this room seems to be some shade of red. Even the dark oak desk, because it is polished, reflects some of the red hues in the room. The whole room feels more akin to the fantasy novels of dukes or counts who live in lavish castles and turn out to actually be vampires here to suck your blood. Except of course, Kirin Dave isn’t a count… but he might still suck his blood. Lalna pulls up his turtle neck a little more, making sure it is up close around his neck.

 

The two big doors to the hall swing open and Kirin Dave strides in, fangs bared in a frustrated grimace. The doors slam closed behind him without being ever touched. Despite his anger, Kirin Dave’s grace and elegance gives him a real air of royalty despite his humbler standing of mayor.  He wears a silken red cravat, neatly tucked into a lavish white and red waist coat with a black shirt which split at the elbows to reveal a pair of flowing red silk sleeves that trail with his movements. He sweeps around to the window side of the desk, with a flick of his finger, the window closes along with the quick escape plans Lalna had cooked up in his time waiting here. The hypnotic combination of graceful anger and beauty is broken by Kirin slamming a newspaper upon his desk and his voice finally roaring into life.

 

“HOW?!” He yells, leaning over his desk at the now sheet white doctor realizing the danger he is in, “How did you set fire to a water-cooling system?!”

There is a bead of silence as Lalna realizes that it was actually a question and he slowly raises his hands in a non-threatening manner.

“Well, when the liquid got hot- “he began to explain, trying not to let his fear be heard in his voice.

“JONES! This is the third explosion this month!” Kirin begins again, silencing Lalna completely, “Do you have any idea how many noise complaints alone have been coming into my office since you moved labs into the center of Server?!”

Kirin’s nails scrape quietly across the desk as his hand balls into a fist, waiting for Lalna’s response.

“A lot…?” Is all Lalna can say, and even that is barely auditable.

 

Kirin sighs and slumps into his personal desk chair. He brushes his nails down the side of his face and through one of his finely trimmed mutton chops. His slit like eyes break away from Lalna's frightened gaze and he looks out the window to the west, where he can see the damaged building. Lalna begins to breathe again, but he tries his best to be as quiet as possible, so not to invoke more of the vampire's wrath.

 

"If it was up to me. I would fire your ass..." Kirin says, and the difference in auditable volume makes Lalna wonder if he was even speaking at all. "If it wasn't for... well, at the very least I can..." Kirin then looks to Lalna, making him freeze back in place again. He speaks louder this time but still calm. "After the Christmas charity event. I am sending all the damage bills straight to Yoglabs HQ. Let's see how your boss reacts to that. Perhaps he will cut your pay."

 

The Christmas Charity Event is something the city holds every year, for as long as I have lived here, not that I have ever been. You need either a rather expensive ticket to get in or you need a VIP letter given to you from one of the big companies themselves. The event itself is where the big companies get together and hold essentially a large televised party with many games and events, all the money raised in the events go to charities and people in need. It is used as a positive publicity stunt for the big companies, a chance to sweep under the rug any misgivings and problems they have caused throughout the year. However, it does help people in need, so I cannot complain.

 

Lalna’s hand catches on the letter in his pocket again and he slowly opens it and reads the first few lines. “Oh! Dave!” He chirps up. “I have a question about the party.”

“WHAT?” Kirin asks, almost shouting as he tries his best not to lose his cool again to Lalna’s annoying cheer. The doctor was entirely oblivious to his threat.

Lalna takes out the letter and reads it over again then asks Kirin his question. “You see; it says fancy dress on the ticket here. Does it mean fancy fancy or just fancy shirt and tie?”

Kirin’s eye twitches.

“Because with most of my good clothes burnt in the fire…” he continues, however, much of what he is saying isn’t being heard. Lalna is unaware of the burning wrath that is now sitting the other side of that dark oak desk.

 

That is the sort of person this Lalna is, because as smart as he is for being able to create or disarm a nuclear bomb he is incredibly dense when it comes to how people around him see him. See this situation from Kirin’s perspective; The Christmas Charity Event is an event jointly made by the big companies in this city alongside the region’s council, of which Kirin is the mayor of. Lalna is quite possibly the single cause of every piece of bad press that has been printed about Kirin over the past year, however, the man is best friends with the CEO of one of the big companies that sponsors the event and even fund’s the council itself. So Kirin sees a man who knows he cannot be touched, rubbing in his face that despite every bit of chaos he has caused in the city he still gets to be treated like someone of good faith, someone who is good for society. Someone who can go as a VIP to the event, just like himself.

 

“And about the-“Lalna continues but as he does, the letter is suddenly snatched from his hands. Then with a flick of Kirin’s wrist, an intangible force opens the two large doors to his office and throws Lalna from his seat right into the hallway before slamming closed again. The hallway slightly shakes from the force of the two large wooden doors slamming and Lalna lays on the floor where he landed, comprehending what just happened.

Then Kim steps into his view, looking very unimpressed down at him. She doesn’t say a word; she doesn’t need to ask how it went. Everyone, even myself on the roof could have told you how the meeting went.

“It didn’t go well.” Lalna responds, answering a question no one had ever needed to ask.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comic pages involved:  
> Page 3:  
> http://fighteramy.tumblr.com/post/124478528932/page-3-the-server-is-a-pretty-inclusive


	3. The Party

A few nights later the Christmas Charity Event was held.

Thanks to the lights, music and presence of the authorities, even I get to enjoy the night... _somewhat_. I was sitting upon the rooftop of **Duncan's Laboratory** , overlooking the park, keeping an eye out for any disasters that may unfold. A good position for that night; I get to eat some sandwiches lovingly provided by my roommate's girlfriend, have a nice view of the events in the park... _and listen in on the lunatics just below me_. One of which who stepped out onto the balcony with a pair of binoculars to see the event from afar. My bets was it was a rather disgruntled Kim either taking a break from fixing the laboratory or taking a break from Lalna's _incessant_ cheer. I'm not sure which one it was, but I was right about it being Kim out on the balcony.

"See anyone we know?" I hear him call out from inside the lab.  
" _ **Everyone!** Duncan._ " Kim yells back, "Everyone but _us_!" She peers through the binoculars again, and grumbles " _Even **your boss** is there..._ "

I scoot a bit closer to the edge to get a better look. I might not be one for social activity and it may be a bit nosy of me... but I just like to keep informed on the more _dangerous_ characters of the city. What they don't know, wont hurt them.

" _Argh!_ " Kim whines as she throws up her arms in frustration, "This is not fair! Why did they take _my_ tickets too?!"  
"Because it was _your_ idea...?" Lalna insensitively replies.  
"I told you _not_ to test it inside, _Duncan!!_ " she continues, leaning against the balcony railing, all the energy she had a moment ago fading into despair, "I had bought a great red dress for tonight and I told everyone we'd go... and now everyone will know we messed up..." She places her hand to her face. **The flux infected eye** begins to glow along with the circuit board like veins a moment later. She shudders and her voice becomes hollow and distant as she rapidly continues speaking her thoughts "... and mother was going to be there and now she's not and she's going to be really mad at us and, _and-_ "  
" _Kim...?_ " Lalna calls out from inside, hoping to get her attention. Kim's babbling continues.

The door opens wider and Lalna briskly walks out and baps her on the head with a video game case snapping her out of her state and causing the flux's glow to die out. She swipes the game case from his hand as he takes the binoculars from hers, then he uses them to look out at the event in the park as he slumps against the railing next to her. It was rather disturbing to see how casual he was about her mental state.

"Kim. _I'm sorry..._ " He says quietly to her, for once he genuinely sounded repentant for causing her problems, "I really wanted to go too..." He looks up at her with puppy-dog eyes "but _we_ can have our own party." hopeful cheer coming back into his voice, "I fixed up the screens and bought Jazzles."  
Kim frowns.  
"We can play Mario Kart!" He continues, "you _might_ even beat me this time."  
She smirks at the challenge. " _Bring it._ "

And that was that. They went back inside and closed the door. I took a glance through the sky light, Kim would occasionally whine about not being able to go to the party and blaming it on Lalna but there wasn't even a mention of the near breakdown she was about to have a few minutes earlier. It was like they had forgotten it had even happened. Kim might have not even noticed what had happened, but _Lalna?_ He was standing next to her when the flux was glowing. Had the frequency of those events really jaded him that much...?  
As much as I wanted to know more, it was a matter for another time. For right then, I took my spot on the roof, overlooking the event in the park.

 

Although Kim didn't know it... they were in fact, quite fortunate that night.  
For while this exchange on the balcony was going on, a young woman with black wavy hair and a green floral dress with matching hair clips left the party to make her way back home.

It wasn't late at night and the streets where still bustling with people making their way to either the park or the market streets over to the south.

There was enough foot traffic to warrant a few shortcuts.

It wasn't like it was a dangerous part of the city.

The **M.O.D. Security Network's cameras** are everywhere, even down the alleyways and side streets she would be watched by the ever present eye of those cameras. On those quiet side streets you can actually hear their motors buzz as their lenses focus on you, activated from motion detection.

I've heard people dub it as a reassuring sound.

However, this street only a block away from home, there was no whirring motors.

There was only her own footsteps... and the footsteps of someone else whom had followed her from the moment she left the party.

"...I've found you..." she hears in a breathy whisper.

She spins around to see a **pair of goggles** and a manic grin inches away from her face.

"Sweet miss..." He licks his lips. He's wielding a perfectly clean **blade**  that shimmered in the street light.

She didn't scream. _She didn't even get the chance to scream._

 

 

I could smell it before I had even seen it. _The alleyway was covered in it._

It's partly why I wear this mask... for events like these where the stench of blood drowns out everything else.

I stepped carefully around the mess; Making sure not to disturb the crime scene anymore then I was. I was hoping to find evidence of the creature who had caused this so to hunt it down...

There was strands of black hair floating in the blood and what was left on her head was uneven. Her hair had been cut, not torn out it seemed.  
Deep punctures and cuts from her neck down to her thighs, likely from a weapon with a hook like blade on the end. Her entire chest had been torn open... it wasn't like an animal attack, many of the bones appeared intact, it was more brute force with a large blade; To part her chest cavity... I scooped up my long cloak and stepped into the pool of blood surrounding her body. On closer inspection, it appears her heart was removed, almost surgically so.

This attack was a strange mix of ferocity and precision. Which meant, _sickeningly_ , it wasn't just some creature of the night I could simply hunt down like every other, it was a _human_. A human who had cut out this woman's heart and hair and taken it with them for reasons I'd rather not contemplate.

I brushed my hand over the poor girl's face, closing her eyes. " _Rest in peace..._ " I whispered to her and stepped back.

There was a click then a whirring sound of a motor. I jumped back into the shadows.

The whirring continued.

The camera just above had just come back online... an _unfortunate coincidence_ that the cameras in this area where down for maintenance when this attack occurred. From where I am, it cannot see me. After a few moments the whirring stops. 

I contemplate leaving without being seen as I normally do...

I am not a hero. This city does not see me as one, they see me as someone to be feared... and those who control the M.O.D. Security Network are **Yoglabs** , a company hell bent on capturing me as some kind of **test subject...**

 _However..._ If Yoglabs where to find out about this murder, **how** they would report it would be invaluable information for me, it would let me know if it was an inside job or not.

...also...this is a quiet part of town. It might be hours before this young woman's body is found. And when she is found, it would likely be by some one else who likely was having a nice night.

I tell myself it's for the further investigation of this crime...but that is only a convenience. I do curse my own conscience sometimes. My roommate must be rubbing off on me.

I step out of the shadows, and then the whirring sound starts again. It's focused on me. I wait a few moments watching the camera then I point down at the body. I see it turn ever so slightly focusing on what I am pointing at. _As I expected,_ the camera had identified it was me then someone had been alerted I was on screen and had taken control of the camera.

I then hear the sirens start in the distance. My work here was done. I vanish back into the darkness from whence I came.

They know someone was murdered. How they handle this information was now up to them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comic pages involved in this chapter:  
> Page 4:  
> http://fighteramy.tumblr.com/post/124751650567/page-4-sugar-highs-and-gaming-with
> 
> Page 5:  
> http://fighteramy.tumblr.com/post/125259725362/page-5-i-wouldnt-say-rythian-is-a


	4. News

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I present to you the sudden realization that I have no idea how to write for a narrator who actually lives in the world in past tense.  
> It... sounds right to me but I can't tell if it is actually grammatically correct.  
> Do let me know if I got it wrong.

I didn't have to wait long for the news.

The next day, I'm awoken by my roommate's girlfriend dropping a newspaper on my head.

"Sorry for waking you but," Fiona says to me, patting the newspaper that was now sitting on my lap. "This was what you were looking for, right?"

She gives me a minute to read the headlines and there it was. " _Young woman takes her life after getting drunk after the Christmas Charity Event."_ Suicide. They called _that_ a suicide.

Fiona looks out to the kitchen at the breakfast being made then back to me, intrigue plain on her face. "You asked for the first paper of the morning, _so... are Yoglabs involved this time...?"_ She asks tilting her head slightly.

I put on my mask, hand her back the paper and reply, " _undoubtedly._ "

 

However this also raised a problem. Due to how Yoglabs runs, I cannot simply brute force information out of a lowly worker or even an upper scientist. Information on these kinds of events are strictly kept on a need to know basis. So the only people who would be guaranteed to know exactly who the murderer is, is the murderer himself, and the head of Yoglabs itself. Luckily for me, I knew a couple of lunatics who where best friends with the head of the company.

 

It was around midday when I found them. Kim runs her own small food stall on the weekends. **Nano's Noodle Bar**. Most people stay away these days due to the Flux visible on her face, however I do frequent her cooking on occasion when I am in the area. Good food, and she is good company. It is a shame people don't know that the flux isn't contagious like the common cold. Kim thus far is the only known case of someone contracting the magical corruption and Lalna has been by her side since the day she was infected and has never contracted it himself. Perhaps it's due to his lack of magical aptitude.

Speaking of Lalna, he was there in his usual spot reading the morning's newspaper while finishing off a bowl of noodles. I've never seen him pay and Kim is smart enough to not let him get free food out of her, so I can only assume his tab is enormous...

I make my way to the stand and I begin to overhear their conversation.

 _"Oh... that's sad..."_ Lalna says suddenly as he finishes his meal.

Kim turns to see what he's looking at, then asks, _"What?"_

"Apparently someone died after leaving the party last night-" He begins, then she swipes the paper off him to read it herself.

"... right after leaving the charity event she went into a back alley and committed suicide...?" She read aloud questioningly.

I take my seat as she finishes reading out the article next to Lalna. "She didn't." I tell her, "It was murder."

" _Oh!_ " She exclaimed, then turns and smiles seeing me, " _Hay, **Rythian!**_ "

"Usual for me, _please."_ I reply with a smile and a nod... _well..._ _not that she could see my face under my mask anyway,_ but she seemed to get the message. 

"Sure thing, I'll get right on it." Kim says giving me a wink and turning back to the pot to start on my tonkotsu ramen. 

I see Lalna whip around in his chair, evidently he had not seen me approach, let alone sit next to him. He gives an undignified scream as he falls back off the stool and crashes _graciously_ on the ground. Living proof that despite academics... you can still be oblivious to the things in front of you. Kim on the other hand simply raises an eyebrow at Lalna's reaction then gives a dramatic sigh.

"He startled me!" He says defensively, from his seat on the cobblestone floor.

"That much was obvious." She giggles and shakes her head. She then pours some of the broth into the bowl then looks to me and asks "So, what do you mean, _murder?"_

Back to business. "I mean that _several_ stab wounds and a _missing heart_ is enough to constitute it being a murder instead of suicide." I say simply.

" ** _Woah! Wait, what?!_** " she exclaims, placing the bowl down suddenly. Just as graceful as her partner when blindsided.

I take a pair of chopsticks and crack them apart, meanwhile, by my elbow Lalna had pulled himself up to his knees, with his hands on the counter edge. "So it was a cover-up?" He asked more as a statement then a question. Seems like he had already clued in on why I was there. Clever man, if not childish.

"Exactly... and whoever it is has gone to great lengths to keep everyone involved silent..." I reply watching for his reaction. It seemed I had confirmed his suspicions and he simply nodded back to me and pulled himself up to his elbows before sitting on the stool again.

"How can someone cover something like this up?" Kim asks, scratching her chin, "Cutting someone's heart out isn't exactly subtle."

Lalna may act innocent, but Kim doesn't act. "My thoughts exactly... Which is why I need you and Lalna to look at things your end at Yoglabs." I answer her, "it is just a hunch but they haven't exactly have had a clean record for cover-ups.." I then explain and begin on my take-away ramen. I pause and glance to Lalna whom had began leaning uncomfortably close to me and staring intently. He had that dumb look on his face as if he was about to see something interesting. He was waiting to see me take off my mask to eat.

Kim luckily swooped in to put a stop to his invasion of privacy; Smacking him on the top of his head. He yelps and turns back to her as she tells him off for staring. I take my chance to place her payment on the table, and take my bowl of ramen with me as I leave.

I hear Lalna as I walk away "Ok! We'll help you out Rythian, but seriously what do you look like under that-" He then notices I'm no longer beside him, "Mask...?" He trails off.

I remember thinking that was odd of him to say. _"You'd think he of all people would remember what I look like."_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comic pages involved with this chapter:  
> Page 6:  
> http://fighteramy.tumblr.com/post/125917675547/page-6-in-lalnas-defense-id-probably
> 
> Page 7:  
> http://fighteramy.tumblr.com/post/126333970932/page-07-this-took-longer-then-expected


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> THE FOLLOWING PHONE CALL RECORDING AND DOCUMENTS HAVE BEEN REDACTED UNDER YOGLABS SECURITY REGULATIONS.

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comic pages involved in this chapter:  
> Page 8:  
> http://fighteramy.tumblr.com/post/127382552412/page-08-meanwhile-we-have-a-very-very


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